In 1884 Jean de Dietrich founded Société Lorraine des Anciens Etablissments de Dietrich and Cie to manufacture railway locomotives.

Twelve years later Adrien, Baron de Turckheim who was director of the companies factory at Lunéville, Lorraine bought the rights for the company to manufacture a vehicle designed by Amédée Bollée.

The company went on to manufacture Vivinus voiturettes under licence at it’s factory in Niederbronn-les-Bains, Alsace and a Turcat-Méry designed vehicle under licence at it’s Lunéville factory.

In 1902 the factory in Alsace ceased making automobiles and the vehicles produced in Lorraine became known as Lorraine de Dietrichs.

The company began building cars for racing in 1898 but it’s greatest success did not come until 1906 when Arthur Duray won the Circuit des Ardennes beating the 120 hp Darracq driven by René Hanriot.

Richard Scaldwell who first came to the attention of this blog for his GN JAP GP special, counts the Grand Prix Dietrichs amongst his favourate cars.

He spent ten years researching and manufacturing the parts he could not find to fit to the bones of a 1909, when there were no Grand Prix races, de Dietrich 60/80 to make the Reincarnation of a Grand Prix car seen here at Chateau Impney last year.

The car is fitted with a 16.4 litre / 1000 cui four cylinder engine that produces 130 hp which is geared to give the car a 110 mph performance at an almost idling 1500 rpm.

Thanks for joining me on this “Cent Trente Chevaux” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be visiting Autosport International. Don’t forget to come back now !